Abercrombie + Fitch Rebounds For Back To School

In the thick of back to school season, long troubled Abercrombie + Fitch, along with Forever 21 and Old Navy, are the three retailers making the biggest overall parental perception improvements since one year ago.

YouGov BrandIndex interviewed adults with at least one child 18 or younger for this research. Each major retailer has been charted with two of YouGov BrandIndex’s most relevant scores: Purchase Consideration ("When you are in the market next to purchase from a retailer, from which of the following brands would you consider purchasing?”) and Value (“Does it give good value for what you pay?").

Purchase Consideration is a key indicator of potential sales revenue and measured in a range from zero to 100%.

Who's Breaking Out of The Bottom Tier

Although Abercrombie + Fitch has made strides in a positive direction, it is still part of a heavy cluster of about 15 retailers clustered at the low end of the value and purchase consideration scores. Among them is youth retailer Hollister, which made the biggest jump in value perception among this group versus one year ago.

Charlotte Russe and Wet Seal made strides in purchase consideration, moving up a couple of points in the same time frame.

Bankrupt Aeropostale, currently in talks with Versa Capital, is on the very outer cusp of the lower scoring cluster of brands, holding flat in value perception and falling two points in purchase consideration from one year ago.

Macy's and Sears Stumbling

Both Macy’s and Sears follow each other having some of the more significant drops in both Value and Purchase Consideration since last year. If you look at their overall pictures since 2013, Sears has fallen from 29% of consumers considering buying from brand the next time they are shopping to its current 17%.

Macy’s actually had a lower Purchase Consideration than Sears three years ago – 21% -- and although it currently scores higher than Sears, it has still fallen three percentage points to its current 18%.

Amazon Looms
Although not a national brick and mortar retailer like its rivals, Amazon (not charted) still looms very large for the entire sector. The online behemoth increased its value perception as much as Forever 21 and Old Navy and more than any other rival retailer on Purchase Consideration. It also leads the whole category on Purchase Consideration.

Purchase Consideration versus Value: Back to School Brands (parents of children under 18)